Nikon ups the ante with 36-megapixel D800 and D800E
Nikon has announced the upcoming release of two new digital SLRs - the D800 and D800E - both fitted with a 36.3-megapixel FX-format sensor and retailing below £2700
Author: Olivier Laurent
07 Feb 2012 Tags: NikonNikon d800Nikon d800e
Nikon will release the D800 and D800E cameras in March and April, bringing to market two digital SLRs featuring a 36.3 megapixel FX-format sensor.
The D800 and D800E will seat alongside the D700, and will cater to different needs. While both models sport the same main features such as its specifically-designed sensor, the D800E will be marketed at enthusiasts and professional photographers working in studio conditions or on commercial shoots.
The D800E incorporates an optical filter with anti-aliasing properties removed in order to facilitate the sharpest images possible, according to Nikon. "This is an ideal tool for photographers who can control light, distance and their subject to the degree where they can mitigate the increased risk of moiré and false colour." Aside from the optical filter, all functions and features are the same as on the D800, the Japanese firm adds.
Both models can produce unprocessed raw files of more than 70MB, which can result in processed TIFF files of 212MB. "The images are so big that for the first time ina Nikon DSLR, we've employed [the] USB 3.0 technology," says James Banfield of Nikon UK.
The decision to pack a 36.3 megapixel sensor in a DSLR body will certainly have an impact on the digital medium format camera market, Nikon believes. "The D800 offers imaging potential to rival medium format cameras, but with all of the agility of the DSLR format - giving professionals who demand attention to detail the freedom to create monumental images," reads a communiqué released by Nikon yesterday, ahead of today's announcement.
"It's about growth for Nikon," Jeremy Gilbert, group marketing manager at Nikon UK, tells BJP. "Everything that we launch, everything that we do is about increasing our share of the market. We don't want to ignore a specific market, and we don't want to reject any photographers that want to choose the Nikon brand, and you'll find, whether they are studio photographers or someone that is doing wedding, if they want to use just one system, we'll be ready to support that, so, yes [medium format camera users] are important for Nikon."
The D800 and D800E offer 12-channel readout with 14-bit A/D conversion and high signal-to-noise ratio to deliver images of "remarkable quality with low noise and wide dynamic range," claims Nikon. It also offers an ISO range of 100 to 6400, extendable to 25,600 equivalent, and down to 50.
Both models feature the Expeed 3 image-processing engine, 16-bit image processing and a 91,000-pixel RGB sensor for its Advanced Scene Recognition system, which can accurately detect human faces, recognise a scene's colours and brightness, says Nikon.
But, the D800 and D800E are also expected to bring competition to Canon's EOS 5D Mark II with advanced video features. Similarly to the recently-announced D4, the D800 and its sister camera will offer full-HD recording capabilities at 30p, 25p and 24, with 60p, 50p and 25p available at a definition of 720p.
Nikon has brought new audio controls to its DSLRs, with an external stereo microphone input and an audio out for external headphones. The camera also offers uncompressed HDMI output, which lets professional photographers and filmmakers view and control their images on external monitors in real time. "As with the Nikon D4, this data is output at the designated image size and frame rate, and is clean of the information overlay that can be simultaneously displayed on the camera's TFT monitor," says Nikon in its statement.
Both cameras also sport the Multi-CAM 3500FX autofocus system, with up to 51-point coverage settings, offer burst rates of up to 4fps in FX-format and 6fps in DX-format crop mode, and can support both Compact Flash and SD cards.
Finally, the D800 and D800E offer four different image crop modes - 5:4 equivalent to 30x24mm; 1.2x or 30x19.9mm, DX-format equivalent to 23.4x15.6mm and FX-format.
The D800 will be released on 22 March at a retail price of £2400 body only, while the D800E will only be available from 12 April at selected retailers for £2690.
For more information, visit www.nikon.co.uk.
Comments
Looks Great......I want one!
I have been waiting for it. But it looks like the Europeans and in particular those in UK get stung again as Nikon USA site says the suggested retail price will be $2999.00, which at the current exchange rate is just over £1900.00 equivalent, but you're saying it's starting price here will be £2,400.00.
That's a hell of a markup for not able to buy in the USA.....
Re. post by CJam
The US price will not include VAT (their prices are always listed without it). Add 20% VAT to £1900 and you have a price of about £2280 (which I concede is still lower than the UK rrp of £2400, but it is no-where near as great a gap as it initially seems).
4 frames per second feels a tad slow. I understand that file sizes are likely to be the culprit here.
Do we know if, like the D700, with the addition of a battery grip, there will be an increase to something comparable to 8fps?
Oh, and just to throw a spanner in the works regarding the pricing differences, a quick glance at ticket prices suggests that I could fly to NYC, buy the camera, pay the state tax and still be better off.
Throw in the added bonus of being in NYC and I think I know where I'll be spending:
a) my hard earned money
b) my next holiday
big mega pixel usb 3 outlet ie new computer needed do you really need 36mega pixels doing large fine prints for the tate to hang on their wall slows everything down when on the computer or is it so you can crop into the image may be its cheaper and lighter then a large lens wouldnt mind having ago though.......
36Mp, the rumours were right, what an amazing resolution. The new sensor size of 39mm x 24mm I guess is the maximum size which can be covered by the existing lenses.
Why gripe about the price for such a great device. Its closest competitor the Leica S2 is 6 x as much and this price is more than half what you'd pay for a D3X!
Will they be able to cope with the higher resolution of this new sensor?
Or are we in for a new round of "upgrades"?
It's all about growth, right?
Yippee do-dah! But wait, I was hoping for two things: extended iso to squeeze a tad more low light work out of the camera and a bigger file sizes. And here's the rub (c/o a.n.other web site) "The D3X, Nikon's current flagship, makes very high demands on lenses at 'only' 24MP ... wouldn't be surprised if some of the optics which D700 owners love so much don't shine quite so brightly at 100% on screen when bolted on front of a 36.3MP sensor..." That'd be me I think. Meaning I will need to change the various lenses, namely the previous generation 3x f2.8 zooms & the 84 f1.4 and thus I'll likely stay with the D700 and upgrade the glass before making the leap if this is the case
I have been waiting and waiting for Canon to get itself sorted out with a an advancement on the 5Dmk2 and now Nikon have brought out a what looks like an amazing camera at a reasonable price.
Do I change or can someone please help me with Canons plans!
I have been waiting and waiting for Canon to get itself sorted out with a an advancement on the 5Dmk2 and now Nikon have brought out a what looks like an amazing camera at a reasonable price.
Do I change or can someone please help me with Canons plans!
You probably can import it for 200 US Dollars less and pay for delivery and save money doing that way.
Its to do with exchange rates to Japan, not USA. Don't let customs catch you with the VAT either...
USA prices - not all states are equal
Re: post by CJam
New Hampshire will sell you a body fro $2999 and not charge you any tax. So there is a huge difference to the UK price as always. Apple & Nikon tell us that we get better support in UK, and for free, hence the hidden costs of selling here. Poppycock!
Now we know the reason why Canon pulled their true planned replacement for the 1DS Mk III. They knew it would be surpassed very quickly by this Nikon. Instead, they tried the desperate measure of trying to pass off the DX as their intended replacement model when clearly it isn't. The DX is obviously a replacement for the previous sports camera body. Canon must be in very dire straits indeed. Unless they get a megapixel camera body out quickly, this Nikon is going to wipe them out.
The software still costs £160 extra on the D800.
Moire will affect video on the D800E.
Resolution is still merely double 9 megapixel resolution, but the image is four times the size.
Nikon told me settings cannot be altered as you film. You have to stop the machine, alter the settings, and restart.
The video resolution is still only 1920x 1080. It could be far more with exactly the same hardware, right now, as 4x36MPx3 layers is in fact 432MP/sec, and the video a mere 144MP/sec (2MPx24x3layers), so already a firmware update is in order, but still an interesting proposition, IF noise at 400iso is as good as a 1DsMkII.(2004 vintage)-not asking much now, is it?
I have been loyal to canon since digital became available. Waited patiently for all singing and dancing 5d mrk 3 and does it have double the pixels ? no vitally the same but wait its double the price !
Now nikon release 36m leaving us canon users scratching our heads wondering why canon haven't done the same.
Great camera no doubt, but you still can't use the PC-E lenses fully with it.
Stupid overhang of the prism/finder over the lens prevents the lens from being fully rotated through 90degs. As per D700!
I also don't want to shoot video HD or not. I just want a still camera!
We have had the means to move groups of focus pints around the screen in AF.
All gone. You get the option in manual focus, but even there it is not a real option, as though you can choose the grouping, you only get to see and move, one point, by one point, one focus point, and it is exactly the same with the AF option-one point, one space at a time, and then only whilst the meter is lit up.
Both options are absolutely useless for action photography of any kind, for which you now have no choice but to trust complete automation and pray it works.
So for many users, myself included, the idea of changing to Nikon as the 1Ds and 5D series Canons had duff AF has gone, utterly gone, and for the equivalent of what Nikon had-on say a D200- you must now go to the 5D MkIII.
Which has three groups you can move quickly across the screen just as that Nikon used to have.
They can easily fix this mess with a firmware update, but until they do, using this machine is more an act of faith than anything, and I find that with even static subjects the auto AF copes very badly. And I do not mean sports: I mean big trees at 50metres with a superwide zoom. 50% of shots are out of focus and trying to correct using lens correction makes no difference at all- all the lenses do it, regardless of the type. I weep!
Only manual lenses escape!! Back to the future with the old technology then,
and maybe get a replacement body. (At my age, I need one!)
These Nikons were not designed by photographers for photographers at all: that lost switching on the back is a practical disaster no photographer would agree to
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